Over the next five years, an estimated 200,000 jobs will be created in the UAE, according to experts, who have predicted that the country will return to its “glory days” of pre-2008, thanks to Dubai’s successful Expo 2020 bid.
In an effort to steer young professionals and students towards the thousands of jobs that will be created, UAE Global Management Challenge, which kicks off for the first time in the UAE, will encourage and stimulate entrants to gain practical experience through an innovative competition.
The Challenge consists of a management simulation in which teams of three to five people, comprising university students and corporates, are given complete control of a virtual company with the objective of obtaining the highest investment performance for its shareholders.
Competitors analyse financial and economic indicators, expand their views on corporate strategy, interact with functional areas of a company and gain an in-depth understanding of the market conditions in which their companies compete.
“The UAE has a wealth of talent and through the UAE Global Management Challenge young managers and university students can hone their skills and find out what they want to do over the next few years,” said Mian Muneer Uddin, managing partner of Beaufort Associates, the consulting and advisory services firm that brought the Global Management Challenge to the UAE.
“The Expo 2020 will bring in a wide variety of jobs and students and professionals will be able to use the competition as a platform to target the right occupation in the run up to the Expo.”
The Expo, which will run for six months, will bring in a variety of jobs including those in finance, real estate, retail hospitality and other services. In an effort to encourage students and professionals to gain solid practical experience and become an attractive employee, the competition challenges young entrepreneurs to take over the reins of a virtual company.
Those who enter the competition will have the chance to experience the private sector, while gaining insight and expertise into strategy and management, so they can better make a career choice.
“Not only does this competition contribute to developing the next generation of business leaders but it will also increase job opportunities for those living in the UAE,” added Muneer.
The challenge was officially launched in September of 2013 and encourages professionals and students to participate. The winning team, or ‘UAE Champion’, will compete with counterparts from several countries for the world title, to be held in Sochi, Russia, in April 2014.
